Punjab Transport Minister Aruna Chaudhary on Friday said the state would get the fleet of new 600 buses in 2 months which would bolster the transport structure of the state.
Presiding over a meeting of all the departmental officers here at the Punjab Civil Secretariat, the newly appointed minister said the new buses will include 300 ordinary low fare buses of PUNBUS, 30 Volvo Coaches and 250 ordinary buses of PRTC which are already underway. The minister said that the process of buying the buses is already on and would be over soon. She assured that the public transport system would be given teeth and new routes would commence for the for the far flung areas.
Chaudhary asked the departmental officers to provide better transportation facilities to the people so as to strengthen the transport sector besides adopting tough line against whims of private bus operators. She directed the Secretaries of the Regional Transport Authorities to ensure the timely meeting of targets with regard to the collection of taxes and implementation of latest IT systems for issue of Registration Certificates and Driving licences.
In her statement, the Transport Minister said the Secretaries of the Regional Transport Authorities have been given directions to put a stop to the arbitrariness of the private bus operators apart from ensuring that every bus operates according to an equitable time table. Besides, no bus should operate from the unauthorized stops or on routes without permits.
The minister also elaborated that in order to stop such activities, it would be mandatory for the private buses to install Global Positioning System (GPS). Not only this but the new as well as the old government buses would also be equipped with the GPS technique. This would come in handy for the departmental officers to have full knowledge of the route taken by the buses.
The Regional Transport Authorities have been instructed to to work in letter and spirit bring about the positive change. The minister also warned those indulging in violation of these orders with action stern.
Principal Secretary, Transport Sarvjit Singh, Director Bhupinder Singh, Additional State Transport Commissioner MK Arvind Kumar, Managing Director of PRTC Manjit Singh Narang and Secretaries of all Regional Transport Authorities were present.